Mike Ditka is a Hall of Fame tight end whose career earned a solid career value score of 61 in the Knox value model. Ditka's enshrinement reflects a career that consistently placed him among the elite of his generation.
M
Mike Ditka
All-Time Rank & Honors
career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title contextYes
Hall of Fame
Season honors and record seasons
A quality tight end with a top 30% among starters — a legitimate starter who contributed meaningfully across their career.
Career Value · VORP
VORP 94 · #1219 · High-ValueWorth 94 points of value above a freely-available replacement tight end — top 27% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 4 of 11 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +23.5 on average.See board →
Seasons above replacement
4 cleared
7 replaced
Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it — adds 0, never a debit
46
Replacement
the KC-H bar
→
4
Seasons over
cleared the bar
×
+23.5
Avg surplus
peak +40
4 seasons × ~23.5 surplus ≈ VORP 94
Combined Season Grid
The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at once—no tab hopping.
2 grids split in one view
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Receiving | Rushing | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Ctch% | Y/R | Y/Tgt | AirYd/T | 1D | Att | Yds | TD | Y/A | TD% | 1D | 1D% | Fmb | |||||
| 1961 | — | CHI | 14 | — | — | 56 | 1,076 | 12 | — | 19.2 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1962 | — | CHI | 14 | — | — | 58 | 904 | 5 | — | 15.6 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1963 | — | CHI | 14 | — | — | 59 | 794 | 8 | — | 13.5 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1964 | — | CHI | 14 | — | — | 75 | 897 | 5 | — | 12.0 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1965 | — | CHI | 14 | — | — | 36 | 454 | 2 | — | 12.6 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1966 | — | CHI | 14 | — | — | 32 | 378 | 2 | — | 11.8 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1967 | — | PHI | 6 | — | — | 26 | 274 | 2 | — | 10.5 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1968 | — | PHI | 6 | — | — | 13 | 111 | 2 | — | 8.5 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1969 | — | DAL | 4 | — | — | 17 | 268 | 3 | — | 15.8 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1970 | — | DAL | — | — | — | 8 | 98 | 0 | — | 12.3 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1971 | — | DAL | 4 | — | — | 30 | 360 | 1 | — | 12.0 | — | — | — | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | — | — |
| 1972 | — | DAL | 14 | — | — | 17 | 198 | 1 | — | 11.6 | — | — | — | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | — | 118 | — | 0 | 427 | 5,812 | 43 | — | 13.6 | — | — | — | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | — | — | |
Rushing
Receiving
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Ctch% | Y/R | Y/Tgt | AirYd/T | 1D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 22 | CHI | 14 | — | — | 56 | 1,076 | 12 | — | 19.2 | — | — | — |
| 1962 | 23 | CHI | 14 | — | — | 58 | 904 | 5 | — | 15.6 | — | — | — |
| 1963 | 24 | CHI | 14 | — | — | 59 | 794 | 8 | — | 13.5 | — | — | — |
| 1964 | 25 | CHI | 14 | — | — | 75 | 897 | 5 | — | 12.0 | — | — | — |
| 1965 | 26 | CHI | 14 | — | — | 36 | 454 | 2 | — | 12.6 | — | — | — |
| 1966 | 27 | CHI | 14 | — | — | 32 | 378 | 2 | — | 11.8 | — | — | — |
| 1967 | 28 | PHI | 6 | — | — | 26 | 274 | 2 | — | 10.5 | — | — | — |
| 1968 | 29 | PHI | 6 | — | — | 13 | 111 | 2 | — | 8.5 | — | — | — |
| 1969 | 30 | DAL | 4 | — | — | 17 | 268 | 3 | — | 15.8 | — | — | — |
| 1970 | 31 | DAL | — | — | — | 8 | 98 | 0 | — | 12.3 | — | — | — |
| 1971 | 32 | DAL | 4 | — | — | 30 | 360 | 1 | — | 12.0 | — | — | — |
| 1972 | 33 | DAL | 14 | — | — | 17 | 198 | 1 | — | 11.6 | — | — | — |
| Career | 118 | 0 | 427 | 5,812 | 43 | — | 13.6 | — | — | — |
KV-H Anatomy
KV-H 61 · Strong StarterA strong starter career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 61 of 100, era-normalized against rec yds/g peers across 11 scored seasons.
50
Sustained
career value
×.6
74
Peak
best 3 seasons
×.4
×1
Longevity
career length
Blend 59.6 × longevity 1 = KV-H 61· confidence 86%
What builds the career mark of 50
On-field 32.7
Availability 17.3
On-field production Staying available
Season-by-season quality (era-relative rec yds/g)
1961bestavg 47elite 701972
All-Time Standing
how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position32
Depth
of 100
Reached 28% of the all-time Receptions leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.
28% of the all-time Receptions leader28
2 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader67
A 0–100 scale where 100 = matched the all-time leaderat this position. Built only from visible encyclopedia data — career production vs. the all-time leader, plus efficiency (EPA) and comparable-player confidence — so it's a transparent context score, not a subjective rating. Tiers: Elite ≥ 85 · Strong ≥ 65 · Solid ≥ 45 · Depth < 45. Comparable-player confidence: 97%.
Career Aging Trajectory
vs. position group average · KV-H basisAmber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average tight ends aging curve. Group peak age: 25. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).
Playoff vs Regular Season
📉 Regular Season Player
Yards / Reception: 13.6 regular season → 9.7 playoffs (5 playoff seasons)
-29%
vs reg season
Postseason Career
Rushing
Att1Yds17Y/A17.0
Receiving
Rec11Yds107TD1Y/R9.7
College stats are not imported for this profile yet.
StatVault has the verified college attribution (Pittsburgh), but no parsed college box-score table is present in this profile artifact. The section stays here so every profile has a consistent college-stats landing point without fabricating unavailable rows.
Reference Graph
Career teammates and draft class, derived from year-by-year rosters — every name is linked.
Similar Players
Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0–100%).
Movementderived from season history
- 1972final season
Last recorded season with DAL
- 1969team change
Joined DAL (from PHI)
- 1967team change
Joined PHI (from CHI)
- 1961signing
Entered the NFL with CHI
Knox
StatVault's proprietary player intelligence, informed by full career data. How Knox works →
Historical Knox · KV-H
Era-normalized career quality — z-scored against 11-season peers. See all →
61
peak 74
Season Report Cards· KV-H era-normalized per season
A1961
B1962
B1963
B1964
D1965
C1966
D1967
F1968
C1969
C1971
F1972
Availability
Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 11 seasons.
Era Translator
Rec Yds translated to the 2025NFL — each season's standing among its own-era peers, projected onto 2025's scoring environment. Modern-era (1999+) coverage.
| Season | Actual Rec Yds | Rec Yds/G | → 2025 Rec Yds | → 2025 /G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 1,076 | 76.9 | 1,027-49 | 60.4 |
| 1962 | 904 | 64.6 | 478-426 | 28.1 |
| 1963 | 794 | 56.7 | 414-380 | 24.3 |
| 1964 | 897 | 64.1 | 634-263 | 37.3 |
| 1965 | 454 | 32.4 | 0-454 | 0 |
| 1966 | 378 | 27 | 0-378 | 0 |
| 1967 | 274 | 45.7 | 396+122 | 23.3 |
| 1968 | 111 | 18.5 | 0-111 | 0 |
| 1969 | 268 | 67 | 1,618+1,350 | 95.2 |
| 1971 | 360 | 90 | 2,155+1,795 | 126.8 |
| 1972 | 198 | 14.1 | 0-198 | 0 |
Data: wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), wikipedia:pfhof-inductee-list · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 7/10/2026
Career Value · VORP
94 career value over replacement — #1219 all-time of 4,642. 8.5/season above a replacement-level TE.
Fan Rating
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